


Livin' on Love

by Magentas_Nightmare



Series: Merle Dixon Oneshots [59]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Close Calls, F/M, New Beginnings, Unhappy marriage, Wealth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:21:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27436486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magentas_Nightmare/pseuds/Magentas_Nightmare
Summary: Lauren finds herself in the presence of a man who forces her to question what she needs in life. Money isn't everything and Lauren is looking for more...
Relationships: Merle Dixon and OFC - Lauren
Series: Merle Dixon Oneshots [59]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1337284
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Livin' on Love

> **Livin' on Love**

“Honey?”

“Uh huh?”

He didn't even look up from his computer and she wasn't surprised.

“I was thinking...maybe we could go out to the lake this weekend.”

“I have that conference, remember?”

“Oh, OK.”

“I do need you out at the lake though.”

“Why?”

“I'm having new flooring put in and I need you to make sure the guy doesn't rob us blind.”

“I doubt that would happen,” she noted.

“I'm not taking any chances with some serviceman. Just do it, please.”

“Sure.”

“What's with you anyway? You look miserable all the time.”

“It's nothing. I'm grateful for everything I have with you, but-”

“But what?”

“We never make love anymore and we never do things together. I thought we'd be trying to have a family by now.”

“Do you have any idea how important my job is?”

“Of course, I didn't mean to imply that-”

“Girls of your generation think marriage is all wine and roses. Marriage is a partnership and a man needs to work. We wouldn't be in a house this size, with a lake house and 3 luxury cars if I took time off every time you got weepy.”

“I guess you're right.”

Henry got up from his desk then and walked over to hush her up like a child again.

“It's not your fault, Lauren, it's your age. You'll get used to how the world actually works in time. Until then you'll have to manage with your emotions,” he sighed.

Three long years of marriage and she was about to cry at the drop of a hat most days. Her mother was right, marrying an older businessman wasn't going to end in happiness, but what could she do now?

/

Lauren got dressed in something casual to meet the contractor and brought along a book to read as he worked. She'd feel stupid watching him work like she didn't trust him so she planned to stay out on the dock to give him his space. Rich men like her husband never truly trusted anyone, all they cared about was their money and possessions.

She took her old car out to the lake, the one Henry begged her to get rid of because it made the driveway look bad. The highway lay out before her and she squinted into the sun wondering where her sunglasses were.

Her dirty blonde hair was in a simple ponytail again and her denim capris and t-shirt showed that she had nobody to dress up for. Henry hadn't touched her in 6 months and she felt that the marriage was simply for show. He liked to show off a younger woman at his business functions but he had no real interest in her sexually or otherwise.

The lake house was beautiful and she wished she could live out there year-round and only come back when she was required for functions. She was sure that Henry would even agree to that and she couldn't help finding it sad. She had loved him once, in the beginning when he treated her like a prize he had won, when he still listened to her speak, when he still touched her.

She pulled down the narrow tree-lined lane to their private gated entrance and pushed the key code to continue into their driveway. The contractor would be there within the hour, so she opened up all the windows and made sure the place was tidy before he arrived. She'd let him in the security gate and then retire to the dock to read for the afternoon. Lauren prepared some lemonade and sandwiches for the stranger to be polite since flooring was sure to take all day long at least and men were famous for not bringing lunch and then needing to eat fast food. There were no restaurants nearby so she figured it might be helpful to him. There were wild raspberry canes in the back as well so she picked a fair-sized bowl of those and rinsed them off to go with the sandwiches. Lauren loved to cook for people but often she ate all alone.

She was just wiping down the counter when the security phone rang and she walked over to let him in.

“Hello?”

“Caltec Flooring, Ma'am.”

She grinned at the word 'Ma'am' and buzzed him in. She was 26 and found the idea of being called something so formal comical but this was business so it made some sense.

Lauren opened the front door as the man backed his work truck up to load in materials. When he finally stepped out with a clipboard in his hand, she found herself a little transfixed by him. He had a button down work shirt on with the sleeves rolled up like guys did back in the 50s or 60s and his work pants fit him like a glove. She was struck.

“Hello there, Ma'am. I'm here to re-tile the kitchen and the main floor bathroom today.”

“Right,” she nodded. “I can show you around and then get out of your hair so you can work.”

“Hey, I don't mind the company either way,” he smiled. “The name's Merle.”

“Please call me Lauren.”

“Yes, Ma'am,” he answered. “Just kidding.”

He loaded in tools and supplies and she sipped a coffee at the island in the kitchen as she eyed his bulging arms straining to support a heavy load of tiles. He had curly sandy blonde hair and big blue eyes with tanned skin and a tight ass...he was stunning, as if he should be carved in marble.

She had planned to go down to the dock, but he seemed happy to have someone to talk to and was very talkative.

"Nice weather today, huh?" he began.

"It really is, not a breath of wind."

"This is a beautiful house," he continued.

"It is nice. The best part is the dock, I think. I could sit out there for hours."

Lauren walked to the back of the house and pointed out the window toward the dock that stretched out over the still crystal clear lake.

"I could see why," he sighed. "You could let the whole world go by out there."

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” she asked.

“I wouldn't say no to that. Thanks.”

“How do you take it?”

“Just cream for me."

"Do you live in the city?" she asked.

Lauren liked talking to him, he was easygoing and chatty while Henry only cared about work and money. She could never get Henry interested in any topic that didn't have to do with work or money.

"I live in a dinky little bachelor suite downtown so it's like a holiday working out here for the day.”

“Come out to the dock whenever you like for a break, it's a nice view out there, really peaceful.”

“I'd like that, thanks.”

“I wouldn't mind spending a whole lot more time out here actually,” she sighed.

Lauren wondered if she was talking too much, she was almost always alone in the house and her husband's staff refused to get very friendly with her.

“Where do you normally live?”

“Castle Butte,” she answered with a little embarrassment.

It was strange to tell people that she lived in a mansion, they presumed things about her.

“Holy cow,” he nodded. “So I take it you're the lady of the house then?”

He nodded to the ring on her finger and she said that she was.

“How old are you?” he pressed and she knew the age difference was dawning on him.

“I'm not a gold-digger,” she shrugged.

“I never thought you were! I'm sorry,” he exclaimed.

“I know there's a big age difference...I just don't like people thinking I'm like that. I didn't marry him for money, we used to get along really well.”

“Used to?”

She didn't even catch herself saying it and then she had no idea how to gloss over it.

“Marriage is hard,” she shrugged.

“Well, I wasn't judging you. I find it kinda interesting when people get together and they're far apart in age. People can have things in common even if they're a different age.”

“I feel like a jerk now...it's just that people usually do think bad things about it.”

“I get it. It's all good,” he smiled. “If you love him, that's all that matters.”

She realized then that she didn't love Henry anymore and it must have shown all over her face.

“Or maybe not?” Merle winced.

“It's complicated.”

“This got really personal really fast,” he joked. “Sorry about that.”

“It's OK. It's actually really nice to have someone to talk to.”

“I bet he works a lot with a house like that,” Merle noted.

“He never really stops.”

Lauren poured cream into a cup of coffee, mixed it, and handed it to the man she'd just met.

“I made you some food for when you get hungry too.”

“You didn't have to do that. Thanks!” he grinned.

“There's lemonade, sandwiches, and raspberries from the backyard in the bowl there,” she nodded.

“You're sweet like honey, I might never leave,” he joked.

She blushed a little and as he began to work, she settled in the living area just a little ways from the kitchen to read. She knew he had a lot of work to get finished.

He removed his work shirt as the day became hotter and worked in an undershirt as she tried her best not to stare. He was beautiful and it had been a long 6 months since her husband even touched her. She was lonely for emotional and physical affection and she could see that fun, kind, and attractive men were out there. Why was she wasting her life in a loveless union?

Lauren tried her hardest not to be too obvious with her staring and when Merle took a break she pretended to be a lot further along in the book she was barely reading.

She watched as he took some of the raspberries in his hand and poured them into his mouth.

“Now these are good,” he grinned.

“There's plenty. I can pick more for you to take home,” she offered.

“I never had someone be like this with me on a job before,” he said then and he looked a little more serious.

“Like what?”

“Like a person?” he chuckled. “A lot of people think you're gonna steal something, it kinda sucks to be invited in to do a job but then have people not trust you.”

“That's a shame,” she frowned, remembering that her husband had thought that exact thing. That's the reason she was even there.

“I never get offered food either, not so much as a glass of water. This is really nice of you.”

“It's nothing. I like having someone to cook for, it's a nice change.”

“Are you lonely, Lauren?” he asked.

The question hit her like a ton of bricks. She could tell that he was genuine with the question and looked almost concerned about her even though they'd just met.

“I've been lonely for years to be honest...is it obvious that I'm attention-starved?” she shrugged.

“You should never be lonely, Lauren.”

She couldn't look away from him then and she knew that this was a moment she'd have to really start thinking about her life and where she wanted it to go. Lauren wanted to hold this man she'd only just met. She felt close to him already, like he could see her pain and cared that she wasn't happy.

“You're a good person, Merle...”

“So are you. Just remember that life is short and you deserve to be happy.”

She was struck by the surreal level of honesty and connection between herself and a man she'd just met. She hadn't connected with anyone this way in years.

He nodded to her as if he understood that she didn't know what to say and went back to work. Lauren felt compelled to restart the conversation, to tell him that she felt things for him she hadn't felt in years, to kiss him and never let him go, but instead she just sat on the couch wondering which way was up as he worked in the kitchen.

An hour past and she could hear him returning to the plate she'd fixed for him. She imagined herself preparing food for him when he arrived home from work and smiled to herself and then she heard the plate fall to the kitchen floor and smash. Lauren got to her feet and ran to the kitchen to find him grasping his throat and silently looking at her with desperation in his eyes. It was clear that this kind and beautiful man was choking to death in front of her and her heart raced to do something useful.

“No! No no no no, Merle...Jesus!” she rambled as she came to stand behind him.

What the hell was the Heimlich maneuver anyway?

She wrapped her arms around his chest and tried to remember the one time she'd been taught how to perform the life-saving task.

She pressed her fist just below his sternum or where she guessed it was after running her fingers down the center of his chest and wrapped her other hand around that. She thrust upward hard and heard him gag and tense up. He was still not breathing so she told him to crouch a little because he was so much taller than her. She used all her strength to save him and was about to start crying out of desperation when he grabbed onto the counter and began to cough up a piece of sandwich.

They sank down to the floor of the kitchen from shock and mental exhaustion and he coughed for a long time, his eyes watering profusely. Lauren got up for just a moment to grab him some water and a washcloth for his face but returned to his side immediately. It was only after about five minutes that she realized she was clinging to him. Lauren had never experienced anything so terrifying and already she knew that she cared for this man in a way that wasn't usual. There was something between them that she didn't understand, but it was strong, at least for her.

“Are you OK?” she wept.

Having someone almost die in front of her made her very emotional and she didn't care to hide it.

“Tell me you're OK. Should I call an ambulance? Can you breathe alright? I'm so sorry!” she rambled.

“I'm OK now,” he said in a scratchy voice. “Just a little embarrassed.”

“Don't be! I'm so glad you're OK!”

“You saved my life,” he said as he was still wiping tears away from his face.

“You mean I almost killed you with a sandwich!” she frowned.

“You didn't!” he exclaimed and coughed a little bit more. "It was my fault, I was eating too fast."

“I'm shaking,” she pouted and wept a little from the shock of it all. “I'm so glad you're not dead. I didn't really know what the hell I was doing.”

“Whatever you did, I'm OK now,” he assured her with a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Sorry for scaring you like that...that's never happened to me before.”

Lauren couldn't help it then, she hugged him tight and found that he was holding her back the same way.

“I wanted to tell you that I like you but I didn't want to make you feel weird and then the next thing I knew you were choking...you scared me to death."

/

He ran his hand up and down her back and hushed her under his breath to reassure her that it was OK now. Merle tried to imagine anyone in his life caring this much about him choking like an idiot on a piece of food. Lauren was holding him like he was her man and it felt so good that he didn't dare stop her. He enjoyed the moment after the fear and ordeal of almost dying in a stupid manor. She was probably only 5 foot 2 and her blonde wavy hair was tickling his face but he loved being so close to her. Her blue eyes had captured his attention the moment he first saw her and then she was just so nice to him that he couldn't quite believe she was real.

There was something between them, from his point of view anyway, and he didn't want to waste the moment by pretending that it was just a weird fluke that they were holding each other.

“It feels so good to hold you, Lauren...I'm sorry if I shouldn't be saying that, but it does.”

“I feel it too,” she said and he almost died.

He couldn't have a woman like her but for a moment it felt like he could. Her husband could buy her an island and he couldn't afford anything more than his bachelor suite, but she had saved him when he had no oxygen and he felt so alive just touching her.

"Tell me what you want, Lauren."

He didn't have anything better to offer her but he knew he would worship the ground she walked upon if given the chance.

“I'm a little confused and emotional...and all I know is that I can't seem to let you go,” she said. “Why am I feeling this way?"

“I don't know but I feel it too,” he sighed. “I'm thinking things I shouldn't be, but I nearly died just now and it feels like I got nothing to lose.”

She looked up into his eyes then like she was pleading for some truth in the world.

“What are you thinking?”

“It's all selfish pie in the sky bullshit,” he shrugged.

“Tell me, and be honest.”

"I'd have to be crazy to tell you what I'm really thinking," he said.

"Please...just tell me," she begged and he decided to just come out with it.

“I wanna take you right here and now and try to convince you not to go back to your old man who doesn't love you like I could.”

“He hasn't touched me in six months,” she said softly.

“Are you serious?” he exclaimed. “If you were mine I'd never stop touching you.”

“I miss being touched, but not by him.”

/

Maybe he was pushing it, but the moment was anointed and he knew it. He wasn't the relationship type and in only a couple of hours he was ready to change it all for just a taste of her lips. She pulled him in easily and he loved the idea of showing her what a real man could do to her body. The idea of a man not touching her for 6 months was baffling. She had full thighs and hips that made him hungry for a good slow fuck.

He grabbed her then, right there on the kitchen floor, she almost jumped and he loved that. He pulled her in to kiss her lips and swiftly he swept her under him. He felt possessive of a woman who wasn't his and he didn't care. He knew that he'd never fail to put her first or pay attention to her and so it felt OK to be a little more forceful to show her how much he meant it.

“Where does he sleep?” he demanded.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“Your man. When he's here, where does he sleep?”

“Why?”

“Cause I wanna take you there and fuck you where he sleeps. I wanna thank you for saving my life and then spend the rest of my life makin' you feel good.”

“Damn,” she whispered. “You're making me so...”

“What?”

“Wet.”

“Fuckin' hell. Lead me to his bed,” Merle growled.

She pulled him by the hand to the second floor where a huge bedroom with a skylight lay looking untouched with crisp white sheets on the bed. Merle took her into his arms again and kissed her hard, stealing her breath and repeating words of how beautiful she was.

/

He was everywhere at once and he controlled every move. It felt good to be taken by a man who seemed to need her to stay breathing. He lay her out on the bed and there was not one moment of pause as he figured out what to do, he just went for it. He kissed his way down her neck and then pulled her t-shirt over her head. She'd never had a man this wild for her in only jeans and a t-shirt before.

She let him do as he wished and soon he had her stripped to the waist and was holding her arms over her head to tease her breasts. It felt like a connection from her breasts to the brewing ache between her legs and nothing would ease that ache except him.

“You're killing me,” she whined.

He urged her legs apart with his knees and thrust against her, it was the sweetest tease, and she saw stars. He was doing everything right and her only concern was cumming embarrassingly fast.

“Tell me you'll run away with me,” he said and she melted into his words.

“I will...anywhere you go,” she promised.

Merle slid his hand down her jeans and teased her out of her mind. His fingers slipped between her lips and he gave her only an inch of his fingers before ripping her jeans open and yanking them down her legs. He left her panties right where they were to torture her some more.

“I wanna give it to you so good, Lauren. It's cause of you I'm still alive and I wanna show you how grateful I am,” he winked.

/

Merle kissed from her breasts to her belly and wrapped his arms around her thighs to keep them open. He wanted to feel her cum against his mouth, he wanted to please her enough to make her his own.

He still didn't know what pleased her, she was still new to him, but he liked the idea of taking her from behind. He took his big hands and grabbed her by the hips, rolling her onto her belly.

“Uh...there's certain things I don't do,” she said then and he chuckled to himself.

“I ain't trying to do that.”

“Thank Christ!” she giggled.

“I just wanna kiss your back,” he said as he began to kiss down her spine, “and I wanna kiss this perfect ass...and down the backs of your thighs.”

She was putty in his hands then as he grabbed her ass and kissed his way down her body to her thighs. She was so needy for his touch then that she knew she was dripping wet for him and only him.

“You own me. So take me already,” she almost whimpered.

“Not yet, kitten,” he growled.

Merle pushed her right leg out and open and ducked down to kiss her from behind, trailing his tongue up close to her womanhood and then pushing her panties to the side.

Lauren was going mad. She needed him like she'd never needed anyone and soon she was up on all fours with his head between her thighs. He stroked her perfectly with his tongue and even used his fingertips and soon she was outright begging.

/

He didn't need a blow job, he didn't need anything but to be fucking her so that's just what he did. Merle gripped her tight, checked once if it was OK, and then drove his dick deep inside the woman who'd saved his life. It felt like coming home.

Lauren gasped and dropped her chest to the bed, showing off her full round ass for his viewing pleasure and it was damn hard not to cum instantly. He knew then that he could happily fuck her for the rest of his life and never get bored.

“Mmmm...you fuck me so good! Oh fuck...that's so good. I needed this so bad!” she rambled and he'd never had a woman so cock-starved before.

Lauren made him feel like a king, like his dick could solve all her problems. He nailed her over and over and not letting go too fast was hard but he wanted to savour it. Merle had said something along the lines of her being his and him taking her away in the heat of the moment, but there was no way in hell she was doing that and he understood it. The world wasn't a fairy tale where men like him got to fall for beautiful women and keep them for his own.

Soon it was all too much and he pulled her body back against his own to hold her by the chest as he started to lose it.

“I need to cum.”

It wasn't the most smooth way to ask if he should pull out, but it worked.

“Cum in me...I'm on the pill.”

He wrapped both of his big arms around her and held his mouth against her back as he came apart inside her and he'd never felt anything like it. She was a special person and he was going to miss out on getting to know her better. She was married and he had let himself get very carried away. It would hurt for a long time, but he wouldn't regret it either way.

/

She held his hand to her chest as he clung to her from behind and she realized that she had wasted 3 years with a man who would never have this kind of passion for her. Marriage wasn't all wine and roses or over the top passionate sex...but it should at least be that sometimes and it hadn't been that way for her for about two and a half years. She couldn't honestly see it ever improving either.

“I don't know what to even say now,” Merle began and she wondered what he was getting at.

“Say whatever you want to,” she assured him. “Be honest. It's OK.”

“I just want you to know that I understand that this can only be this one time for you. I don't want you to feel bad at all about it cause I don't really expect you to come live in my little apartment with me.”

“Oh.”

That was it and she shouldn't have been shocked or anything, but it still kinda hurt. She thought he had wanted to take her away and be her man but now he was insisting that he understood that she would never leave with him. It must be a cop-out and she felt down about it even though she was old enough to know that this wasn't how relationships were supposed to start.

“You OK?” he asked.

“I'm OK...I just feel a little stupid.”

“Why?”

“I thought you meant what you said before. I thought you wanted this to be more.”

“I do!”

“It's OK. You don't have to say that. It was my own fault for taking it so seriously,” she sighed.

“Look where we are, Lauren!” he said.

He got up out of the bed then and pulled a sheet around himself as he walked to the bedroom window that overlooked the lake.

“My bedroom window faces the back of a grocery store...there's nothing out there but garbage bins and milk crates. When I first moved in, it took me 3 months to win the battle of the cockroaches but it was the only place I could afford. I have maybe $50 left after paying my bills at the end of the month and I don't have health insurance. The only meat in my fridge is bologna...”

“So?”

“So, I'd have to be the world's biggest asshole to expect you to live like that, Lauren. I meant every single thing I said to you, but I was thinking with my heart, not my head.”

“I would rather have love than all of this,” she said and she meant it.

“I don't know if my circumstances will ever improve, I might always be poor...but you'd never have to look for my attention. My place is probably so much worse than you're picturing but there's a spot next to you in my bed whenever you want it.”

She paused and wondered what he was getting at.

“You should take some time to think about it first cause I need to know that you don't feel any pressure about this. When you go home tonight, I need you to really think about what you'd be giving up and if it's me you want, I'll be waiting with open arms. I'll be done this job tomorrow and back at my place by about 8 pm.”

Merle handed her his address when they got back downstairs and she decided to let him finish the job in peace. She told him the key code to get in so he could finish the job the next day and then kissed him goodbye.

/

Merle was back on the job in the morning and she haunted him at every turn. He could still see her sitting on the couch humming to herself and pretending to read. He could still feel her tears against his face after she had saved him from choking. In his mind, he was still over her, fucking her, wanting her with every fiber of his being.

He got the job done as quickly as he could so that he'd be back in the city for 8 pm although he didn't expect her to be there. She would know the area, it was the worst area in all of Atlanta and he hoped she'd stay far away if he was being honest. Lauren could get herself hurt in his neighborhood. What the hell was he thinking to even suggest her going there?

He finished up tiling the floors and left the invoice for the job on the kitchen counter for Lauren's husband. He tidied up and drove back to the city by 7:35 pm and by 8:25, she still wasn't there. He sighed to himself and grabbed a beer from the fridge as he plopped down in front of the TV. He tried to imagine her there with him and knew that his life was far too ugly for her. She was a good woman who deserved only the best. He took his beer to the bathroom and stripped off his t-shirt to look himself in the medicine cabinet mirror. He could still feel her touching his skin and wondered when that sensation would pass.

Merle turned on the shower and stepped beneath the hot spray to distract himself from his thoughts and when he stepped out, he thought he heard something in his apartment.

“Hello?” he called out in a shaky voice.

“Merle? The man in the hallway insisted on letting me in...sorry.”

“Lauren?”

“Were you expecting someone else?” she asked.

“No! I just can't believe it's you. Just a sec.”

He pulled a towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom.

“Axel let you in?” he chuckled.

His neighbor Axel didn't have too much sense and would probably use the extra key Merle gave him to let in an ax murderer someday.

“Yes,” she said and he could see her eyes pouring over his dismal home. “Did you really want me to come?”

“I've been missing you all day and even though this place looks like hell and I think you'd be insane to stay...I really wanted you to come.”

“I left him today. I want to be with you.”

"You really won't miss being a millionaire's wife?"

"I don't care where we live and I don't care about money. I just need love."

"Then it looks like we'll be livin' on love, Lauren," he grinned. "Sounds like heaven to me."


End file.
